BENGALURU: The state pollution authority has warned action against industrial units in Peenya after a four-year study by scientists traced the source of contamination in the Vrishabhavathi river to the effluents discharged by them.
The contamination is also getting into the food chain as the water containing heavy metals is used by farmers to grow vegetables, notably baby corn.
Scientists from the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE) collected hourly water samples once a month between May 2014 and June 2015 along the river stream at Chowdeshwari Nagar, Sumanahalli and Jnanabharathi to find high levels of lead, nickel, chromium, copper and manganese.
"In the past two years, we have issued clo sure orders for 79 industrial units in Peenya for discharging effluents in the Vrishabhavathi valley ," Lakshman, chairperson of the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB), told ET. "Of the 79 we closed, 65 were dyeing and printing units. We continue to monitor Peenya as we believe industries are letting out effluents late at night."
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